A/N: As a forward, while it isn't necessary to read this chapter to music, I did write it to Archange from the Ace Combat 7 soundtrack so if you want something that fits well with what is happening on-screen to put in the background, feel free to.


Vicinity of Krueztenstein Fortress, Carpathian Mountains, Romania
August 7, 1994, 0300 Hours

The wind howled over the steady thunder of hooves against the sky itself as Iskandar's chariot cut through the night like a knife, leaving a crackling trail of lightning in his wake.

Far below, nighttime countryside slowly rolled by, beneath wispy clouds as the shadowy wall of the Carpathians loomed ever closer on the horizon.

Even with how dark it was tonight, Iskandar couldn't help but enjoy the sight. There might be rain down below, but up here he was well above the clouds, and the moon and stars were all his.

"I'm still not sure why you brought me along on this, Rider."

...Well not quite. He had brought passengers with him on this journey. One of which was the boy wrapped in a thick coat currently huddled beneath the front of his chariot to avoid the wind.

"As I said boy, to conquer from the rear is for cowards! To truly know your enemy, you must face them head-on in the heat of battle, to test their mettle with your own hands. Only then will you truly understand how to fight them."

"While I can appreciate the whole 'attack from head-on' part, I think you're taking it a bit far," Nobunaga interjected from her position on the chariot's back.

"Nonsense!" Iskandar countered. "To avoid all contact with the enemy, especially this early on, would only result in a myopic view of the battlefield and strategy out of touch with reality. Even if my Master here can't fight directly, to simply observe the battlefield and gauge what we are up against is more than enough."

"I still can't believe that you stole El-Melloi's catalyst." Nobunaga's Master chuckled from the other side of the chariot. "He will flay you alive when you next return to Salvation."

"Well... I suppose I'm lucky that hasn't happened yet, aren't I?" Waver sighed.

"Yes, we have spent a full day in traveling a distance that should have, at most, taken a few hours," the Red Menace groused.

"I should note that it was at the behest of you two that we took the detour to that military base that caused that," Iskandar reminded his passengers.

"Oh shush you big lug! You know we both enjoyed strafing those ants!" Nobunaga interjected.

"You are correct, I do believe there are few feelings more exhilarating than to strike at an enemy from above... but still, the point of the matter is that it was not my Master's idea to spend 13 hours blasting apart an enemy airbase." Iskandar concluded.

"Yeah yeah, just end the conversation whenever you get to have the last word, real mature big guy... hey, wait a second." Nobunaga held her hand up and squinted towards the horizon.

There was a feeling there, like a rattling more felt than heard... like the bones themselves were trying to squirm out of the body.

"Does anyone else hear Latin chanting?"

Iskandar turned his eyes to the horizon. It couldn't just be mundane noise, the wind alone at this altitude―

A blazing streak of white light rocketed out of a cloudbank far below, arcing upwards towards the chariot like a missile.

It took all of Iskandar's speed to pull the reins back and pull to the side just as the mysterious light thundered up past the chariot's left, coming close enough to break off a section of ornamental gold as it passed, before exploding off above and behind with a thundering sonic boom that left both of the humans in the craft stunned.

"What the hell was that?!" Nobunaga shouted.

"An opponent, here to challenge us for command of these skies," Iskandar answered. "Let us give them a good fight!"

Iskandar began to steadily accelerate as he swept the sky, searching for the streak of light. What was that thing? He could sense... Another Servant? Here? It was certainly possible, but...

"On our tail! Eight o'clock!" Nobunaga shouted. "Closing fast!"

Iskandar banked right as the enemy Servant cut clean through where the chariot was a moment ago.

Iskandar didn't need prompting to take advantage of the opening. The streak had barely passed his front as his sword was drawn, pointed at the trail of the mystery Servant, and―

There was a thunderclap as a bolt of lightning struck down from above, and... it was like the Servant just paused for a second as the lightning struck, letting it pass just in front before continuing forwards.

...That shouldn't have been possible. But for a Servant, the impossible became the necessary.

The Servant banked up, and back, almost instantly going from leading in front of the chariot to diving down on it like a hawk in a super-sonic summersault, as if rubbing in just how little the normal rules applied.

The King of Conquerors banked his chariot up, allowing the strike to pass in front as he rapidly breaked against the air.

"That's cheating!" Nobunaga shouted to the rushing wind. "Only I'm allowed to do that!"

To Iskandar, it was quickly becoming clear that this situation was untenable. He was facing an enemy with vastly superior maneuverability on an open playing field where the enemy was free to strike from whichever direction they chose.

He could maybe match the agility of his opponent, but not with his Master here. For a Servant, twisting around through the air like that was perhaps no great effort, but he knew enough to understand that the same would most likely kill a living human, to say nothing of the simple risk of the boy being thrown off during any maneuvers more intense than he was performing now.

So his disadvantage was twofold, one of terrain, and one of agility. What was his solution?

"Assassin!" He shouted. "Do what you can to fend our foe off! I shall find us a more favorable location to do battle with this opponent!"

"Yeah sure whatever!" Nobunaga shouted. "Just leave it all to me then!"

Iskandar kept his eyes on her for just long enough to see her pull out what he had come to understand was called a 'Stinger Missile' before focusing all his attention forwards.

With a lash of the reins, Iskandar dived downwards. The open sky may have him at a disadvantage, but the storm clouds below were a different matter entirely.

The mystery Servant did not take its quarry's sudden change in course lightly, however, and launched into a dive of its own, slowly closing on the chariot as both rapidly accelerated towards the floor below.

"Oh no you don't!" Nobunaga shouted, and the rocket launcher on her shoulder roared as she loosed a missile at the trailing enemy.

The Servant, for their part, did seem to recognize the missile as a threat, and as it thundered towards them they rolled to the side at the last second, letting the missile pass behind it harmlessly, but losing ground on the chariot significantly.

Iskandar, meanwhile, had dropped to near the top of the cloud layer. Beneath him now was not open sky, but a roiling sea of black clouds lit by sporadic flashes of lightning. Somewhere beneath that, invisibly, lay the jagged teeth of the Carpathians, and within them his ultimate goal.

Iskandar stayed above the clouds for just long enough to catch the sight of Nobunaga's missile banking around and coming in for another strike at the mystery Servant from behind before he dove straight through the clouds, and the world vanished into darkness.

As the sea of murky cloud enveloped them, it was unclear if the booming noise from behind was the sound of the missile hitting its target, or thunder roaring through the storm.

Wind and rain tore at the King and his Master; at these speeds raindrops might as well have been rocks for all the force they hit with. That was to say nothing of the visibility. The comparison to the sea was accurate to more than just the surface: the clouds obscured everything, turning flight into something more like swimming.

Still, Iskandar's sight was more than that of a mere mortal, and he maneuvered deftly through the storm clouds, descending into the rain-soaked abyss below, before leveling out and slowing to a more reasonable pace.

"Are you alright boy?" Iskandar asked, turning to the shivering figure at his feet.

"F-fine, I think." Waver was clearly shaken, but why wouldn't he be? Not only was his life on the line, but his survival was virtually completely dependent on Iskandar.

It was a responsibility that Iskandar would bear with dignity. Carefully, his eyes scanned the shadowy mountain valleys below, searching for... there! A tiny speck of light, like a guttering candle in the storm. A safe haven, at least for the moment.

Iskandar descended slowly, carefully balancing against the wind as he kept one eye out for the return of the mystery Servant... He was going to need a proper name for that one if this was going to keep happening. The light soon revealed itself to be a small mountain cabin, perhaps built as some sort of waystation for travelers in the region. It would make as good a location as any for what needed to be done.

As the chariot settled onto the ground, Iskandar wasted no time in getting the boy on his feet and stepping onto the muddy rain-soaked ground.

"What, you calling it quits here, Rider?" Nobunaga asked.

"No, but against a foe like our mystery Servant... let's call them Servant X for now, I'm afraid a change of tactics is in order."

Iskandar put his hands on Waver's shoulders.

"You did well boy, but I'm afraid we will need to part ways for now. Against our Servant X, I'm going to need every bit of agility I can spare."

"...And I'd just be dead weight." Waver finished.

"Not in so harsh of terms, but I do believe it would be safer for you to remain on the ground for now."

Iskandar looked up to the rolling mountains surrounding their landing sight, before catching sight of a faint glow behind one of the peaks in the middle distance.

"You see that over there, boy?"

"That's... I think that's probably the place we came here for, right?" Waver squinted at the faint light through the rain.

"Your sense of direction is impeccable. I will make for the fortress by air, drawing away the attention of Servant X as I do so. Meanwhile, you can make your way there under the cover of darkness and breach the walls through stealth. That goes double for you, Assassin."

Iskandar turned towards the Servant still perched on his chariot along with her Master.

"I would hope you could put that Presence Concealment of yours to good use for once and seize the initiative here."

"A two-pronged assault under the cover of night?" Nobunaga grinned. "Now you're speaking my language!"

Iskandar nodded.

"As for myself, I suspect I will be needing a more agile mount to both navigate these mountains and do battle with Servant X than my chariot can provide. As such, I shall be leaving it behind, and instead I will be riding―"

Iskandar drew his sword, pointing it to the sky as lightning struck.

" Bucephalus( The Beginning of Trampling Conquest) !"

Iskandar's words rang through the air like a bell struck in the heart of the world itself, as a jet-black horse emerged from the lightning strike, the ground beneath its hooves melting under the heat and power.

Honestly, the chariot was probably the more impressive mount... but on the other hand, a chariot, divine or not, certainly couldn't circle and dive like Servant X had. At least not easily.

Iskandar mounted his long-time steed quickly, nodding to the other three as he gripped the reins.

"I trust you will be able to reach the fortress on your own?" he asked.

"Don't worry about us, Rider." Nobunaga grinned. "We'll be making our own way there."

The Fool of Owari wasted no time as she disembarked, missile launcher still in hand, and distanced herself from the rest of the group.

"Very well then. I shall see you again once we lay siege to that fortress! Hyah!"

With a pull of the reins, Bucephalus reared, lept into the air and charged into the night, leaving crackling trails of lightning where its hooves struck the air as it departed.

Nobunaga, meanwhile... aimed her launcher at her feet?!

"I'll meet up with you at the gate, Master! Let's see who can get there first!"

She leapt into the air, loosing a missile at the apex of her leap and detonating it remotely midair, the shockwave catching her and catapulting her far into the distance. A distant second explosion confirmed that, yes, she was actually going to get around like that.

Waver blinked, and then looked to the Master of the rapidly disappearing madwoman.

The Red Menace just looked back at Waver with a dead expression on his face.

"You were correct before, boy," the Russian intoned. "You are dead weight. And I don't intend to be weighed down."

Waver started to say something in his defense... but the man clearly wasn't interested, as he had already melted away into the night, leaving Waver completely alone.

Waver groaned, and pulled the hood of his coat tight against the rain.

"I didn't even bring hiking gear, this is going to suck."

――――
Bucephalus galloped through the sky as Iskandar continued to scan for Servant X.

It was odd: he hadn't so much as seen a trace of them after he broke away under the clouds. Surely a single shot from Nobunaga's launcher hadn't been enough to destroy them, right? Enhancing power of her Foreign Armory or not, Servants should be made of sterner stuff. Should.

Or perhaps he had just completely lost them in the storm? It would be... odd for a Servant to lose track of a foe so quickly on what Iskandar suspected was their own home territory, but not impossible. These mountains were difficult to navigate. Still, surely Servant X would have begun searching for him after losing track, right? They had to be able to sense him, just as he had sensed them... but he hadn't sensed them until their attack had already begun. It couldn't be simple Presence Concealment: the way that they had come into his awareness hadn't quite matched up with that. He had detected them as soon as they entered his perception... but they had covered the distance between the cloud bank they had struck from and his chariot so quickly that there had barely been any time to respond regardless.

Perhaps in aerial combat like this, a Servant's normal perception was simply outranged by the distances across the open sky, creating an opening for an attacker should they cover the distance between the edge of even a Servant's perception and enter striking range in a single instant, giving even a Servant only a fraction of a moment to respond before death was upon them. It would require immense speed... but with the way that tServant X had moved in the air, Iskandar wasn't quite willing to discard the possibility.

Still, in the meantime he had to be on guard in case―

Once more he felt that sound, which he now recognized to be a harbinger of his opponent, and before he even knew where he needed to evade from, he was in motion, leaping away as the white streak of his foe speared down from above like a hawk diving upon its prey.

How long had Servant X known he was there? Had they only just spotted him, or had they been waiting up there, watching for the perfect time to strike?

It hardly mattered now, as Iskandar swooped around the oncoming side of a mountain, Servant X tailed close behind. This was now an airborne duel, a test of skill, to prove who was worthy to be king of the skies.

Servant X had a speed advantage over Iskandar, still, but with their maneuverability limited by the mountains rising up on all sides, he could at least level the playing field...

Or perhaps even more than that.

Iskandar dove down again, practically scraping the tops of the trees as he entered a narrow canyon, forcing his pursuer to follow close behind or lose him again.

The wind whipped as two streaks of light shot through the narrow mountain canyon, one shining white, and the other electric blue.

The canyon was more than just narrow: it was winding, uneven, and unpredictable. At speeds like this, even a Servant had to put their full attention ahead as they passed each turn, always ready to jerk to the side at a moment's notice.

It was perfect for forcing Servant X to play by Iskandar's rules.

After all, he might not be able to outmaneuver them, but even with his raw power lessened without the Gordius Wheel, Iskandar still had something that his pursuer did not.

Without turning his head from weaving through the canyon in front of him, Iskandar pointed his sword behind him, tracking the glowing trail of his pursuer from the corner of his eye, and the sky flashed with lightning.

This time, Servant X had nowhere to dodge.

The lightning struck the white streak of his foe, and he could see as it dipped in the air from the strike, knocked out of focus for just a moment, and―

Servant X vanished into the canyon wall as they failed to bank away in time, their fate obscured by a massive wall of rock that rapidly collapsed into the winding maze of the canyon behind.

Iskandar wasn't willing to assume that he had won. He might have disrupted the chase, but a Servant being destroyed by impacting a wall at supersonic speeds wasn't a sure thing... and he had already seen this one shed all momentum to simply pause in place once. But crash or not, Servant X was miles behind him and counting, and they had already lost him in the storm once.

As he climbed back out of the deathtrap canyon, he was greeted by an exciting sight. Before him in the distance loomed the form of his target. The Krueztenstein Fortress, a towering monolith of modern engineering sprouting from a massive craggy confluence of three mountains, its form spread across the rough terrain like a massive spider clutching to the rock beneath. It was almost completely surrounded by virtually impassible terrain, with its gray edifices illuminated in an oily orange by spotlights all over its form.

It would be a fine target for conquest.

He was hardly home free yet, however. Between him and the fortress lay a relatively open, bowl-shaped valley with valleys and passes leading into it from many angles. Even keeping below the cloud cover, there were myriad ways to strike at someone passing through here.

It was probably best to approach this at a slower pace... perhaps closer to the ground? No, that would just leave him open to attack from above. It was best to climb high, get as much distance between himself and all potential attack vectors as possible... except, again, for above, but if he flew just under the clouds then the sphere of his perception would pass above the cloud layer, allowing his sense Servant X's energy to tip him off to a strike from above before it happened.

Still, it felt like Iskandar was walking into his own execution as he began to make his way through the valley. There was no sound but the rain and wind as he flew, but he could feel tension in the air, ready to snap at any moment.

As the minutes he noted distantly the lights of a town below, and some sort of suspended running lights connecting a large building in said town to the fortress on the cliffs above. A transportation system perhaps? No. He could not allow himself to be distracted while his opponent was still out there.

Iskandar's eyes scanned every potential attack vector again and again, making sure that this time he would not be taken by surprise.

It was because of this that he had a good three second's warning when he caught sight of Servant X again, rocketing towards him out of a narrow pass to his 5 o'clock, and this time it wasn't just split-second dodge that saved him.

Banking up into a harsh corkscrew, Iskandar spiraled around the incoming enemy in a maneuver that would pulp any normal human and reduce mundane aircraft to scrap for even considering it, slashing upwards into the noose he had wrapped around his foe's path as he moved.

There was just a millisecond as he and Servant X passed each other where his vision cut through the envelope of light that had hidden his enemy from him for all this time. He saw a flash of pink, and then it was gone, Servant X rocketing past him into the distance.

Iskandar banked and came around to see Servant X far on the opposite side of the valley, already closing back in on him. Well, it would be rude to not match a charge like that with one of his own, right?

Iskandar exploded forwards, carefully gauging the distance between Servant X and himself.

2,000 meters.

1,800 meters.

1,600 meters.

1,400 meters.

1,2―

"Tr― o―- ―ia!"

The words were almost lost on the wind, but Iskandar recognized a True Name Release when he heard one. He braced himself―

And suddenly felt Bucephalus jerk out from under him, sending him into a tumble at the worst possible moment!

Servant X was closing fast, and he he was now knocked out of alignment and would be easy prey for whatever attack would come next, unless-

" Via Expugnatio( Distant Trampling Domination) !"

He matched the Phantasm with one of his own.

Bucephalus vanished behind him, his purpose served as lightning struck down in the air in front of Iskandar, and from it a pair of divine bulls exploded into the world. Their reins already wrapped around his hand, he instantly thundered over a hundred meters ahead on the exact downward angle that he had been thrown onto, bringing him once more just beneath Servant X as they rocketed past again.

Iskandar took a moment to right himself as his enemy attempted to once more come around, pulling himself atop one of his bulls to act as a new steed. Fighting in open terrain like this, the raw power the bulls brought with them was of far more use than Bucephalus's manuverability.

The moment it took him to do that was seemingly a moment too much, however, as in that moment a beam of glittering gold light leapt the distance between him and Servant X n an instant, connecting them for a just a moment and delivering a searing blast of energy to Iskandar's back.

It wasn't serious. It hurt, sure, but it would hardly be a deciding blow in this fight. Not another True Name Release, that much was for sure. But what it represented was more concerning: now Iskandar wasn't the only one who could strike at range.

This changed the entire context of the fight. That beam had struck him from roughly 1,400 meters away, and from what he had caught of it, had cut a straight line between him and Servant X. Line of sight based, at least 1.4 kilometers of range... his lightning could strike from further, but the zone of control around his opponent had effectively just gotten far greater.

It was time to shift tactics.

Iskander began to circle in a wide arc around his foe as they continued towards the Fortress in the distance, his second bull splitting off.

Raising his sword, Iskander began to fire strikes of lightning at Servant X. They dodged easily, but that wasn't really the point. The point was to establish his own zone of control, to keep his opponent back while he began to probe the exact capabilities of that beam of theirs.

Servant X was all too happy to fire back. Iskandar quickly learned that while the beams were fast, they weren't quite instant. And what's more, his opponent wasn't quite a perfect shot with them. Iskandar weaved between beams of golden light as his lightning illuminated the entire sky, with each strike leaping from the clouds above in jagged arcs.

He had underestimated the beam's range, admittedly: with every miss, it cut far off into the night, striking the mountains miles away and leaving distant craters. Stone exploded and ruptured, slowly lighting up the night with distant spots of glowing red.

That said, his opponent seemed to be getting sloppy. They were circling him, yes, and they were avoiding his attacks, true, but they either hadn't realized or didn't care that the pair had now closed to within only a few kilometers of the Fortress, and had done nothing to corral Iskandar back in the opposite direction.

That was something Iskandar fully intended to make use of.

Banking high, Iskandar began to climb rapidly up the face of the Fortress's mountain, even as he weaved between more beams of gold for his effort. As the massive structure grew closer, he began to be able to make out more detail on it. Windows, terraces with strange 'H' symbols on them, entire roads built onto the top of the massive structure leading from gate to gate.

The structure's many archways and satellite buildings gave him just the terrain he needed to maneuver around to pull his plan off.

Pulling his foe in along with him, he began to dive and weave around the Fortress, swooping beneath its massive bridges, banking around its towers so tightly he could have licked the stonework, diving down on its upper levels, and even managing to crash clean through a canvas-backed truck on one of the roads, sending it tumbling off into the abyss below.

The Fortress, to its credit, was certainly not unaware of his presence. Beyond the roar of wind he could hear the wail of sirens, see searchlights sweeping the skies and distant gun batteries firing off 'flack' shells in the hopes of scoring a lucky hit... and also there were a few missiles being fired off that did their best to track behind him. But unfortunately for them, Iskandar was very good at shaking them―the things seemed to get confused by the slightest maneuver―and most of them careened off course either into the distant black night, or slamming into the Fortress itself with fiery explosions against its walls.

Interestingly, Servant X seemed more hesitant to fire their beams here, waiting for Iskandar to pass over sections of darkness beyond the Fortress where there was no risk of the beam striking the facility before firing. It certainly wasn't a turn of events that Iskandar was upset about.

Still, it seemed like with every maneuver he did, not only did Servant X follow, but they also got closer.

Fortunately, as they began to spiral up around the central keep of the fortress, Iskandar's plan made sure that that didn't matter.

As he crested over the top of the keep, he dived downwards again, daring his pursuer to follow.

Sure enough, as the white streak rocketed up over the summit, he watched as his second bull also crested the top, at a near-perfect perpendicular angle to Servant X. Bullseye.

" Via Expugnatio( Distant Trampling Domination) !"

With a second True Name Release, Iskandar's bull rocketed forwards with a sudden burst of unstoppable speed, slamming into the side of Servant X and catapulting them out into the night.

...Or at least, that was what was supposed to happen.

The bull seemed to strike, yes, but instead of smashing into the Servant with incredible force, it instead just seemed to pass through the streak of white light, careening out the other side and rocketing off into the night all by itself as the light continued unphased.

...And finally got within striking range of him.

Something long and sharp slammed into Iskandar as Servant X finally landed the blow they had been hunting for for so long. A massive gold-tipped lance rammed into Iskandar's gut from the back, driving him from his mount entirely and launching him away into the night.


A/N: And here we have the first part of the Fortress Arc! When I was writing this one my Beta Readers told me it was one of the most unique fights they'd ever seen in a Fate fic... so hopefully it lives up to the hype! Also, miracle of miracles it seems the funky shenanigans I did with ruby text to get the NP names to look like that translates to . Thanks to Aspiring Shoulder (my other Beta Reader/basically uncredited editor) on that one.

Also, here is our first introduction to Servant X! I'll say one thing about them and one thing only: This Servant is not an OC. I did not just write up this entire chapter to hype up my own OC, I'm not that full of it.